Scars and Love
by tobyequalshottness
Summary: Spoby AUish. Toby is the school freak. Spencer is one of the popular girls at school. What happens when Spencer learns Toby's big secret? Alison is still alive. Mostly Spoby, but some Haleb, Ezria, and Emaya.
1. Chapter 1

SPENCER POV

It all started when I was walking to Emily's house to hang out. I was passing the Cavanaugh house, when I heard a male voice yelling, and someone else crying. My curiosity got to the better of me, so I went to a window with an open curtain and looked in. At first, I just saw Toby Cavanaugh, the school freak, huddled against the wall, tears running down his face. His nose was bloddy, and every once in a while he would cough up some blood. Just as I was wondering where the male voice I heard earlier was, I saw Toby's dad walk up to him.

What I saw next made my heart stop.

Toby's dad had a chair, and he smacked Toby in the side with it. He hit him repeatedly while saying, "You're a worthless piece of crap! Nobody loves you! You are a freak, and a dissappointment to this family!"

All of a sudden, as if he could sense my presence, Toby's eyes turned to me, and caught my eye. His face was streaked with blood and tears, and his eyes bored into my sadly.

I couldn't take it anymore. I walked up to the door, and rang the doorbell. I heard the man curse, but he came to answer the door. He opened it and looked at me suspiciously. I needed to think of something to maybe help Toby get to his room, or his dad not do it because the neighbors might hear. Suddenly, I got an idea.

"Hello sir," I began, "I heard some yelling and crying, and I wanted to make sure that everything is all right," I said trying to be polite and innocent.

He faked a smile. "Everything is fine, but thank you for your concern."

"Oh it wasn't a problem. I was just on my way to my friend's house. I better be on my way. Goodbye!" I exclaimed, smiling sweetly.

I walked down the steps slowly after he closed the door to make sure that he wasn't going to start again. When all was silent for a minute, I went the last little bit to Emily's, trying to push what I had just witnessed and out of my mind to have a good time.

Even with my delay, I was the first of the other four girls to arrive at Emily's.

Her and I sat and talked for a couple of minutes, until Aria came in, smiling warmly. 'Hey guys!" she exclaimed. "I am so ready to just hang out! School has been totally stressing me out!" Aria kept on rambling abou all of her Alebra 2 homework that she had, but I wasn't listening. I couldn't get the blue eyed boy situation out of my mind.

Hanna and Ali came in together, giggling about whatever they were talking about. Once Ali started talking about some hot college guy she met, I zoned out again. What if what happened earlier wasn't just a one time thing? I couldn't just let someone get abused and just stand by and watch.

I stood up abruptly, and said, "Hey guys, I need some fresh air. I'm gonna take a walk." They all looked confused, but nodded. I smiled and walked out of the house, and down the sidewalk to the Cavanaugh residence. I looked in the window and saw Toby sitting on the couch, staring at the ceiling with ice on his side. If I wanted to ask him about it, I might as well do it now when he will probably be the one to answer the door. So, I walked over and rang the doorbell and waited for an answer.

The door opened, and there he stood, staring at me with those bright blue eyes.

TOBY POV

I walked through the front door to my house, trying to be quiet. I didn't want my dad to hear me; I was 15 minutes late because I realized I left my biology homework in my locker halfway home. I was walking up to my room when I heard a shout.

"Toby! Where have you been? You're late again! That's the thrid time this week, and you know what that means!" my dad screamed. I sighed and walked back down the stairs to face my dad. When I saw him in the kitchen, he was holding a bottle of beer like usual.

I kept my distance and said, "Dad, I'm so sorry. I forgot my biology homework in my locker and I didn't realize until I was on my way."

"It doesn't matter. You shouldn't have forgotten it in the first place, and even if you did, who is stupid enough to only realize when they were already on their way home?" he said chuckling. But I knew this laugh. It was the laugh he used right before he started to beat me. I have heard it enough to realize what it meant.

I sighed desperately and said, "Dad please. I'll do anything just please don't-" but I was cut off by him punching me in the face. Blood gushed out of my nose, and I tried to back away, but he shoved me into the wall. He was muttering things about how he wished I was dead, and he walked out of the room. I was hoping that he was done, but I also knew better. He was probably getting something to hit me harder with. I let the tears fall not because of the pain, but because I remember how it used to be when my mom was alive. We all used to go on picnics, and sing songs, but that all changed when she died.

My dad came back with a chair, and I knew he was really mad. While he was smashing it into my side, the tears that fell this time were from the pain. I'm pretty sure I heard some ribs crack, but I knew that I couldn't go to the hospital, or they would ask questions, and I would have to answer, which would make my dad furious, and everything would be worse.

When he was hitting me, I sensed another presence and turned to the window. I saw a girl with dark brown eyes looking in. What was her name? Oh that's it, Spencer. Spencer Hastings to be exact. I tried to tell her with my eyes to just go away, and I thought she got my message when she dissappeared from the window.

But of course, the doorbell rang. My dad cursed and went to open the door. She said that she wanted to make sure everyting was all right, but I knew she was buying me some time. And it worked. I ran up to my room and locked the door, trying to think of a way to repay her. I heard the door close, and my dad walk back to his room.

I sighed with relief and walked down the stairs to get ice to put on my side. I was sitting there, icing my ribs, and thinking about my mom, when there was a knock on the door. I got up slowly and painfuly, and walked to the door.

When I opened it, I was staring into the brown doe eyes of none other than Spencer Hastings.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Just to be clear, Toby looks like what he looks like after he got his hair cut. On with the story!**

TOBY POV

During all of the time of me despising her because she was one of Alison's friends, I never realized how pretty Spencer actually was. No, pretty wasn't the right word. More like beautiful, mesmerising, or stunning. I stared into her beautiful eyes, trying to look away, but for some reason I couldn't.

She smiled nervously and said, "Hey can we talk? I need to ask you about something." At first I wondered what she would want to talk to me about, but then I remembered that she had seen my dad and me earlier.

"Um, sure," I began, still looking into her eyes, "but let's talk outside." We walked outside and sat down on the steps, but I kept my distance from her. Just because she's beautiful doesn't mean that I like her any more than I did. Which was none at all. "So, what do you want to talk about?" I asked, trying to sound clueless.

She sighed. "I think you know." I sighed too, and nodded. "Well, I'm not just going to stand by when I can help, has this happened before?" she asked. She sounded sincere, but this might just be one of Ali's traps.

I thought about lying, but something about her made me feel like I could tell her anything. So I said, "Yes. It happens when I do something he doesn't like. Which is basically every day. It's worse when he drinks. My stepmom isn't ever home, and he worships my sister, and she hates me, so there's really no one to stop him." I can't believe I just told my biggest secret to some girl that I thought I hated.

I looked back into her eyes, and they were full of tears. All of a sudden, she reached over and pulled me into a tight embrace. Her tears soaked my shirt and she croaked, "I had no idea." By now she was full on sobbing, and I patted her back awkwardly. I wanted to wrap my arms around her so badly, but I still didn't completely trust her. She straightened herself up, and wiped her tears. "Sorry," she said, "I'm not usually like this. But anyway, what are you going to do about it?" she asked seriously.

I laughed bitterly. "There's nothing I can do. There was a time where I told someone, and when they told the police, my dad had a great lie ready, and when the cops left, he beat me so bad that I was unconcious for a whole day. There's nothing I can do other than try not to upset him," I replied sadly.

"No, there has to be something we can do!" she exclaimed frustratedly.

Suddenly, I had a thought. "Why do you care what happens to me? You're popular, and I'm a freak. Why does it matter to you?" I asked.

"Because! It's not right for someone to treat their child like that!" she exclaimed.

"No, I mean why do you care about me? You're friends with Alison and I'm guessing she doesn't want you talking to me, so why would you take the risk?" I asked.

"Ok. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, than only Aria, Emily, and Hanna know. I secretly hate Alison. I don't care what she thinks! You know, it's actually more fun when she's mad. Her face scrunches up and it gets all red." At that we both started cracking up. "Seriously, I don't like her. Not many people do. Everyone is just afraid of her."

"Well, thanks for caring! Bye!" I said trying to get out of this conversation.

"You can't expect me to forget about this you know!" she exlaimed.

Oh no. "Please, I'm begging you. What do I have to do to make you not tell my secret?" I asked desperately.

She smirked and said, "You have to come hang out with me and my friend Emily tomorrow. Be at the Brew tomorrow at 6 after school."

I shook my head. "No. There is no way that I'm doing that, and I'm pretty sure Emily won't either. I mean, Emily is kind of sweet, but if people see us, they will talk and I know that you two don't want that," I replied instantly.

"I don't care, and I know Emily won't either. You actually seem like a really nice guy and you should really come hang out with us. Emily is really easy to talk to, and she won't judge you about anything. I mean, you know about her being gay, right? She doesn't care about reputations." She smiled, and I realized that if I didn't do this, she would tell my secret.

"One thing," I replied, "you can only tell her about my secret if I tell you you can after tomorrow."

"Done," she said confidently. She hugged me once more, got up, and walked down the steps. She turned around when she was on the driveway and said, "I'll see you tomorrow." And without waiting for an anwer, she left.

SPENCER POV

I keep telling myself that I only want to help Toby because it's the right thing to do, and that I want to make Alison mad, I know that there's another reason. The whole time I was talking to him, I felt this wierd conncection, like he could see into my soul when he looked into my eyes. Of course I didn't tell him this, because he would've thought I was a creep.

I walked back into Emily's room, and she was the only one in there. Where did the other girls go?

Em looked up at me and smiled. "That was a pretty long walk. The other girls had to leave."

As she said this, I looked at my phone and realized that I had been at Toby's for almost an hour. Then, another thought popped into my mind. "Hey Em? Did any of them say that they saw anything suspicious when they left?" I asked cautiously.

"Um, actually, yeah. Ali said something about seeing if you said anything to me about your walk. What happened?"

"Well, if I tell you, you can't tell anyone, especially Alison." I paused, making sure she was going to agree. She hesitated, but nodded. "When I was on my 'walk', I actually went to talk to somebody. I went to talk to Toby Cavanaugh." She gasped, but I went on. "I can't tell you exactly what we were talking about, but he's going through something really bad right now in his life. And I need you to have coffee and hang out with us at the Brew tomorrow after school at 6 so he will open up about it. Please, Em. He's actually really sweet."

I looked at her, and she looked really hesitant. "Em, if you just be you around him, he'll let me tell you about what's going on in his life. Please, he needs some friends," I said desperately.

All of a sudden, a smile spread across Emily's face. "Spency's got a crush! Spency's got a crush!" she chanted. I gave her a look. "Okay. I'll stop. But I will go with you. If you say that he needs some friends then I believe you. And I won't tell Ali either."

I went up to her and gave her a huge hug. "Thanks Em. It really means a lot that you're going to come." I let go of the embrace, and walked towards the door. "Just tell Ali I didn't say anything and act surprised if she tells you anything. Thanks for having me over, and see you tomorrow at school."

TOBY POV

School went by in a flash the next day, as I tried to figure out a way to go to the Brew without my dad knowing I'm gone. He won't believe me if I told him that I was going somewhere with friends. By the end of the day, I figured I would just tell him I was studying at the library.

As it turns out, there was a note on the fridge from my dad saying he wouldn't be home until 8. I sighed with relief.

I went up to my room and tried to get some homework done, but I was nervous about tonight, though I have no idea why. It's not like either of them were my friends. I didn't have any friends.

Before I knew it, it was time to go, and I geled up my hair to make myself presentable, and left. The walk there was full of me wondering what Emily was going to be like once I met her in person. I had already decided that Spencer was a good person, but I wasn't sure about Emily.

When I got to the Brew, Spencer and Emily were already sitting at at table, giggling about something. I walked up to them, and sat down awkardly in the open seat.

"Hey!" Spencer exclaimed. "I was starting to think that you weren't coming. Oh, and since you haven't met properly, Toby this is Emily, my best friend, and Emily this is Toby, my new friend." I can't believe she just said I was her friend.

Before I could think anymore on the subject, Emily stuck out her hand to greet me. "Hi, it's nice to meet you. I would say that she told me so much about you, but she didn't because she said she wasn't allowed to so, ya."

I shook her hand and said, "It's nice to meet you too."

"So," Spencer said, "what are your hobbies? What do you like to do in your spare time?"

"Well, I'm really into carpentry, so most of my free time is spent building things. But I also like carving small figurines."

"Wow," Emily said, "I think I would like to see some of your creations some time."

"Yeah," Spencer chimed in, "so would I." I wasn't used to people showing this much interest in me, so I looked down and blushed. If Emily and Spencer noticed, they didn't say anything.

The evening went on with questions being asked all around, and some of the time the two girls would answer for each other. He was surprised how easy it was to carry on conversations with the two of them.

He looked at his watch and saw that his dad would be home soon, so he had to make the decision whether or not to tell Emily fast. After about 5 minutes of thinking, he made up his mind.

"Hey, I have to go, but Spencer, I want you to tell Emily. And, it's okay if you don't want to but, I was wondering if you guys wanted to do this again sometime?" I mumbled.

"Of course!" the exclaimed at the same time. Spencer and Emily slipped me their cellphone numbers, and I gave them mine.

As I was leaving, they both gave me a hug, and when I was embracing Spencer, she said, "Don't be afraid to call if you need anything, okay?" she asked sincerely. I nodded and walked out of the coffee shop, feeling better than I had in a long time.


	3. Chapter 3

SPENCER POV

Now, here comes the hard part. I have to tell Emily about Toby and I'm scared of her reaction, but not for the reasons you might think. I'm not afraid that Emily won't like Toby anymore, she will probably like him even more. My problem is that Emily might want to kill Toby's dad. She gets _really _angry about these kinds of things. But I guess I had to tell her because Toby wants me to.

"Spence?" I heard Emily ask. "What does Toby want you to tell me?"

I sighed, wishing I could have more time to think about what I was going to tell her. I guess I'm just gonna have to wing it. "Well, I'm not really sure where to begin, so I'll start with the time when I found out. But no interruptions." I looked at Emily, and she hesitated, but nodded. "Well yesterday when I was walking to your house, I heard some crying and yelling coming from Toby's house. My curiousity took over, and I looked through the window. At first I just saw Toby sitting up against the wall crying, but then his dad came in." I could tell Emily knew where this was going, because she was tearing up, but she kept true to her word and didn't interrupt. "He had a chair, and he started beating him with it. When I said that I was going on a walk, I was really going to talk to him. I got him to open up, and he admitted that this happens when Toby makes a mistake, and he basically said that it happens a lot, and its worse when he drinks. When I found out, my way of getting him to come here with us was telling him that I would go to the police and tell them what has been happening. He agreed, and now, we are here," I finished.

Emily's eyes had been filling with tears, and now that I was done, she started to sob, and wrapped her arms around me tightly. I squeezed back, but I knew what was coming. She suddenly pulled away with fury in her dark eyes, and they looked even darker now. "I'm going to kill that son of a b-"

"Emily!" I interruted her. "Don't. Toby doesn't want me to do anything for him but be his friend, and to stay his friend I guess that's what I'm going to have to do."

She sighed but nodded. "He seems really cool. I wonder why everyone hates him," she said thoughtfully.

"Because he's a freak and I make sure everyone knows it," said a voice from behind our table.

I turned around, glaring. "Alison. What are you doing here?" I asked angrily.

She smiled innocently. "I was just coming over here to see how your playdate with your new BFF went! Judging by the conversations that you guys were having with him I guess it went well."

"You were eavesdropping?" I asked angrily. "Why do have to ruin every single thing that we do that doesn't involve you?"

"Oh Spence, sweetie! No reason to get angry! And I wouldn't call it eavesdropping, it was more like listening in," Ali said sweetly.

It was Emily's turn to contribute to the conversation. "Those two things are the exact same! But never mind that, why do you think that he is a creep. I remember in the 8th grade you had a crush on him!" she said exasperatedly.

"Oh honey, I just realized that he wasn't worth my time and that he was lame. And that's exactly how I'm feeling about Spencer right now, so we don't we just go back to my house and have a movie night Em?" Ali said smiling brightly.

Emily just laughed. "You seriously think that I'm going to go anywhere with you after this conversation? Toby is really sweet, so I don't know what you're talking about. And I don't want to. Let's go Spence." I left a 20 on the table to cover the cost and walked out the door with Emily.

Once we were out in the warm spring air, I turned to Emily and she had an angry and conflicted look on her face. "Em, you just stood up to Ali. I knew you had it in you. It's great to finally have someone to help me show her that she can be really rude sometimes," I said gratefully.

She sighed happily, but then frowned. "Thanks, but I'm sorry for all the times when you two were arguing and you were right that I didn't take your side. It's just tonight, something finally snapped. It's been building up for a while, I've been wanting to say something, and just then, my courage took over. It felt so good to stand up to her, but did we just make things worse than they already were? Did we just get ourselves kicked out of the group? Because she seemed really mad when we left."

I thought for a moment. "Em," I started, "I understand if you would, but I wouldn't really care if she kicked us out of the group. We just made a new friend that is like a million times better than Ali. And if it came down to it, I would hope that Hanna and Aria would come with us. I think they feel the way we do."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "I wouldn't care. And I didn't think that you would, I was just making sure of it. And I know that if we tell Aria and Hanna what happened they would take our side."

I nodded, but then I realized something important. "What if Ali already told them? Then, the only way to have them come with us would be to tell them Toby's secret, but we can't do that. He would hate us. I don't think he understands how much we need them with us."

"Well," Emily replied, "we won't tell them. If they don't take our side even if Ali tells them her lie of what happened first, then they definitely aren't who we thought they were."

"True. So-" I was cut off by my phone ringing, signaling a call. I smiled when I saw who it was. "It's Toby. I'll put it on speaker." I pressed the button and we both heard struggled breathing.

"Spencer. You told me to call if you needed anything. I need you to come over to my house like right now. No time to explain just hurry. And when you get here, stay safe." I was pondering why I would need to stay safe when I heard a crack and strangled cry from Toby, and before I could reply, the call ended.

I looked at Emily with wide eyes and said, "Let's go, now." With that, we started sprinting to Toby's house, fearing the worst.

ALI POV

So Spencer finally got someone to stand up to me, but I don't think she understands what I'm capable of. I just wish that I could've heard what Toby wanted Spencer to tell Emily. Then, I would think of a way to ruin him and Spencer. I still wasn't too sure about Emily. She used to worship me because she was in love with me, but I'm not usre if she is anymore. And when she doesn't worship me, she's dangerous like Spencer.

With that thought, I made my decision. Those three won't know what hit them.

TOBY POV

As I walked home, I checked my phone to see what time it was. I slowed as I realized that I still had 20 minutes to get home when it was only about 5 minutes if I was going at the pace I was.

As I walked, I wondered if Spencer and Emily had a good time. My mind wandered and I pictured Spencer and I, with our lips conncected in a passionate kiss.

_'Stop it Toby',_ I thought, '_don't be such a creep. She probably doesn't feel that way about me anyways.' _

I checked the time again as I walked up my driveway. I should have about 10 minutes to make it look like I've been home all night. But that was the problem. _Should have had. _As I walked in the door, I was too happy about tonight that I didn't notice the figure, sitting on the couch in the dark waiting for me.

I didn't realized he was there until I was halfway up the stairs. "Tobias Allen Cavanaugh!" my dad roared, and I heard footseps coming towards me. I thought about running until I realized that even if I locked my door, he would just wait for me.

I turned around and face him. He was standing right behind me, and there was murder in his eyes. "Dad I-"

He stopped me with a slap to my face. "You're home late for the second time this week! What's your excuse this time? Are you going to try and tell me you were with friends?" he asked angrily.

"Actually, I was. I was with some new friends."

"Don't lie to me!" he screamed. "I know that you don't have any friends!" He shoved me, and I fell down the stairs, hitting my head on the way down. My vision blurred, but my dad wasn't done yet. "I'm going to kill you!" he whispered into my ear. I could smell the scotch on his breath.

He walked into the kitchen, and I took that as a sign that he was getting a knife. I got up, even with my head screaming in protest. I went up the stairs a fast as I could with my head spinning the way it was. I went into my room, locked the door, and tried to find something to cover the gash in my head that was gushing out blood. I decided on an old shirt, and I wrapped it around my head.

Once I did that, I debated if I should call Spencer or not. I didn't want her or Emily to get hurt. Even if I just met them, they seemed really nice, and I wanted to make sure that they stay safe.

Once I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, I made my decision. I called Spencer and told her to come. My dad knocked down the door and came in with a knife, and sliced my leg, making me fall to the ground, and me barely telling Spencer to stay safe. The last thing I remember before I passed out was my dad smirking successfuly and walking out of the room.

SPENCER POV

We ran as fast as we could to Toby's house, but it still didn't seem fast enough. What if his dad hurt him again? That's the only thing that I could think of that might have happened to him.

I didn't have time to dwell on these thoughts, becuase we had reached his driveway. I saw a light in the upstairs on, and started looking for a way up to it. I found some things I could use as footholds, and ran to the wall under the window. I really hope that this is Toby's room or his parents or step-sister might be getting a surprise.

I climbed up, and I expected Emily to protest, but instead, I looked down and she was climbing up too. I smiled despite the situation because it was moments like these that I realized that she would always have my back.

When we got up to the window, I saw Toby lying in a pool of blood on the floor. I let out a sob, and tried to find a way in. When I found none, I braced myself and punched the glass. I heard Emily gasp, but I didn't care. My only thought was of getting to Toby.

I realized that the hole was barely big enough for me to fit through, and I sighed with relief. At least I wasn't going to cut my stomach. I climed in through the hole, and tried not to put pressure on my bleeding hand. For an instant, I felt like such a baby. There was Toby, who could be dead, and then here was me, feeling sorry for myself over a bleeding hand.

I ignored the gasps of Emily as she saw Toby as I quickly walked over to him. I felt his pulse. It was faint, but still there. I knew he wouldn't want us to take him to the hospital, they would ask questions just like he said yesterday.

Emily and I shared a quick glance before picking him up with a struggle and walked through the broken down door quietly. We didn't want his dad to hear us. It was a difficult task, even with the both of us, but we finally got him out the door and onto the porch.

"Em is your mom home?" I asked quickly.

"No, she's at the station. Let's take him there and try to get him cleaned up." We both knew that she really meant keep him alive. We went as fast as we could, and put him on the couch when we got inside. Our muscles were aching, but we had to get him some medical attention. "You get the gozz from the upstairs closet, and I'll get the rest," Emily said hurriedly and we both sprinted to get the supplies that would hopefully save Toby's life.


	4. Chapter 4

TOBY POV

I was dreaming of Spencer when I heard voices. Yes, Spencer was in my dreams now too. I think I'm falling for her. What am I thinking? How could I even think that? I've only had 2 conversations with her!

I tried to focus on what the voices were saying, but I could only tell who the voices were from. Spencer and Emily. How did they get into my house?

But then I remembered that I called Spencer, and I needed to make sure that my dad didn't hurt her. I opened my eyes quickly, and I guess they noticed becuase Spencer started talking to me. "Toby! You're awake! How is your head? Do you want some Tylenol or advil or-" Spencer started rambling.

"I'm fine," I interrupted. "I think I'm fine. I feel kind of out of it. How much pain medicine did you give me? No, scratch that, what happened after I called Spencer? Wait, better question. How am I still alive?" I said exasperatedly.

Emily sighed. "First question: as much as we could give you without killing you. Second question: We got to your house and you were unconcious in a pool of blood. We somehow managed to carry you here to my house without dropping you or your dad finding us. We laid you on the couch and basically tried to keep you alive. Well, then my mom called to say she was coming home, so we lugged you up the stairs to my room so she wouldn't find you. Your lucky Hastings over here made sure I didn't take you straight to the hospital. She said you wouldn't be too happy about that."

I smiled bittersweetly. "Yep. Did she tell you why?" Emily nodded. "Good, so you understand. And thanks for not leaving me there to die. It means a lot. Even though me dying was kind of my dad's plan." I grimaced as a pain came into my leg.

"Wait, what?!" Spencer yelled. "He was trying to kill you? I thought it was just regular!"

"Spence shut up! My mom is downstairs! Do you want her to come up here? I already lied to her telling her not to come up here because you were having a crisis!" Emily whispered.

"Well we kind of are having a crisis Em!" Spencer whisper-yelled. "We kind of have one of our friends hiding out in your room because his father almost killed him!"

I was kind of touched that she called me her friend, but I was getting annoyed that they were talking about me like I wasn't in the room. "Well that friend is here and wants to know what time it is," I said quietly.

"Sorry," Spencer murmured, "it's 8am Sunday morning. You've been here since like 9 last night."

My eyes widened. My dad is going to kill me for real this time! "I have to get home!" I exclaimed trying to sit up, but a pain shot through my head and I sat back down.

"No you don't." Spencer smiled smugly. "We told him that we would take you off his hands for a while, and he agreed instantly! You're going to be staying with me for a while. Nobody is ever home, so my parents and my sister won't find out. Emily and I have this all planned out. We're going to get you a job in carpentry-I know a guy- and then with the money from your job we will get you the apartment above the Brew. It's really nice and it's low priced. Then, we will all live happily ever after as three best friends. The end!" she exclaimed.

I chuckled. "Get used to it," Emily said only half-jokingly, "Spencer Hastings never does anything halfway."

I nodded. "Good to know." The thought I wasn't voicing was the one that worried me the most. My dad wasn't going to let me go that easily. But I didn't want to worry them so I said, "When do I go to Spencer's?"

"Once you can sit up would be a good time," Emily said jokingly.

I sat up slowly. "See I can. I want to see the place I'm going to be staying at."

"Ok, you will. We just have to go pack all of your things. Don't worry, we'll use gloves to pick up your boxers. We already have them down by our purses," she said jokingly. I laughed and nodded. She had such a great sense of humor! Stop it Toby! You two are just friends and Spencer probably wants it to stay that way. Living at her house is going to be hard, but you're just going to have to deal with it. I smiled once more as they walked out of the bedroom, and then laid back down to rest.

SPENCER POV

I mentally scolded myself as we walked down the stairs out of Emily's room. 'Seriously Spencer? Gloves to pick up his boxers? He probably thinks that you're some creep no.' I thought to myself. I sighed. He will probably always think of me as just a friend. But did I want him to think of me as more? I thought that I did, but I just met him, so did that mean that it was too early to like him like that?

"Hello, Spence? Earth to Spencer!" Emily exclaimed.

"Sorry, what? I was just thinking," I replied as we got our purses and walked out the door. She gave me and knowing look and winked. "Why do I get the feeling that you know exactly what I'm thinking about right now?" I asked.

"Oh get real Spence! I've known you for like your whole life! I know all of the looks that you get on your face, and I happen to know that you are thinking about a boy right now. And I also happen to know that the boy is none other than our very own friend, Toby Cavanaugh." She smirked. I was about to argue, but she put her hand up to stop me. "Don't even try to deny it. Anyways, I think he likes you too."

I shook my head as we walked up the driveway. "Let's just figure out how we're going to do this. Do we knock or go in through the way we did last night?"

"Last night," Emily replied, "I'm kind of scared of his dad. I mean he did sort of try to kill his son for being home late."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. But last night, you were about to kill his dad, and I hope you still have some of that anger in case his dad tries anything."

Emily closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them they were that dark, dark shade of brown I saw last night. "Let's go while I'm still like this."

I had to laugh at this. "You're like the hulk. When you get mad you like turn into a monster," I said, chuckling.

She shook her head. "I just had to picture Toby laying there in his blood and I get _really_ mad. Let's go. We need to get back in case my mom decides to come home from work again."

I nodded and started to climb up the wall, with Emily following close behind. When we reached the top, I slipped through the hole in the window again, and started looking around for some bags and suitcases, while Emily started packing his clothes. Once I had found 3 suitcases, 5 drawstring bags, and his book bag, room in the drawstring bags.

I paused when I got to the last set of things I needed to pack. It was his car collection, and I didn't want to break them. I finally decided to just carry the bag carefully and hope that nothing breaks.

When we were finished, I looked around the room to make sure there was nothing else. Emily looked through the drawers, and I looked through the closet, and it was all empty. We decided to just go out through the front door because like last night we had stuff to carry.

Once we were out the door,-thankfully with no problems from Toby's dad- we hurried back to Em's house in case her mom had called or come back from work early. When we got back, we were relieved to see that she hadn't called or come back yet.

We went upstaris to talk to Toby, and saw that he was asleep. We knew that we had to get him out of here before Emily's mom got back, so we decided to wake him up. I reached down and shook his shoulder lightly. I tried not to think about the sparks I felt when I touched him.

He fluttered his eyes open slowly, and asked, "How long have I been out?" Why did he have to be so sexy when he woke up? I could get used to waking up to that in the morning. Stop it Spencer!

"Not long," Emily said when she saw I wasn't going to answer. "But we need to get you to Spencer's, so we need to see if you can walk."

He nodded and sat up slowly. We helped him off the bed, and he took slow steps around the room. Next, we had him walk down the stairs. When he could do that alright, we walked out to Emily's car (she drove me to the Brew yesterday so mine was at my house) where we had already packed all of his stuff except for the drawstring bag with his cars. I handed that to him and smiled. When he looked in it, he looked up and grinned at me. "Thanks," he said sincerely. His smile made me want to melt, but I held it together.

When we got to my house, Emily helped us take his stuff in, but then she left to let him get settled. Well, that's what she said, but I knew that she meant that she was giving us some alone time. She was always trying to play matchmaker, but this time I was okay with it. I actually liked this boy, and I liked him a lot.

TOBY POV

First, she showed me the guest bedroom that I would be staying in. It was two times the size of my bedroom at my house, and it had a walk in closet that was the size of it. I set all of my stuff on the floor by the bed and looked around in awe. I always knew the Hastings were wealthy, but really, this wealthy.

"Wow," I murmured.

"Yeah," she said shamefully, "I live here and you were living with your dad in a house only half the size of this one. And to top it off, your dad abuses you almost every day while I haen't even thought of anyone ever doing that to me." By now she was crying a little bit. "I'm so sorry!" she sobbed, coming over to hug me.

I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. I comforted her for a couple of minutes before something came to my mind. "What are you sorry for?" I asked softly.

She pulled away and l looked at her tear-stained cheeks carefully. "I'm sorry for believing all of the rumors Ali started about you. I'm sorry that I laughed some of the times when she made jokes about you. And I'm sorry that I didn't notice what was happening to you. If I would've looked harder whenever I saw you in the hallways, on the sidewalks... maybe it wouldn't have gotten this bad."

I stared into her eyes sincerely. "It's okay. Ali is really good at making people believe things. And, you couldn't have seen what was happening. I'm pretty good at bottling up my feelings. There is nothing that you could've done to help. Don't feel guilty about any of this. My dad is the one to blame."

She smiled tearfully. "Thanks for not being mad." She swallowed. "I'll give you the grand tour and then we can get you all unpacked. Follow me," she said as she walked out of the room.

She showed me the bathrooms, her parent's and sister's rooms-which I wasn't allowed to go into-, the kitchen-where I could help myself whenever I'm hungry-, and finally, her room. She told me that if I ever needed anything that I should come to her room, but knock first. She said that if she found out I had a problem and didn't come to her, she would have her friend Hanna do something with some sort of high heel that really isn't worth repeating. I laughed when she said it, but she said that she's completely serious.

When she was walking me back to my room, her phone buzzed and she grinned. "Hanna and Aria want to come meet you. Do you want to rest for a while and meet them later or what?"

I was torn. I took a chance on Emily and Spencer and now they are alread like my best friends, but what if the others aren't like that? What if they are like Ali? But from how she invited them but not Ali, I guess Ali is the only one that has a problem with me. "Okay," I said finally, "have them come over now. If they are as nice as you say that they are-"

"Oh they are!" she exclaimed. "Aria is like a tiny pixie, and she is the sweetest thing unless you mess with one of her friends. Then she's like a demon pixie. So, you're going to like being friends with her. Hanna is really nice and will protect her friends just like Aria, but you'll have to get used to her. She makes a lot of stupid and inapropriate comments. So, if she bothers you about staying here, just let me know." She looked so excited for me to meet them, that her excitement was contagious. I smiled back at her, and I realized something: I really wanted to kiss her right now. So, I did.

I walked over to her, and put my lips on her's gently. I was afraid she was going to pull back and slap me, but to my surprise, she leaned into the kiss. Before it could go too far because we just met each other, I pulled back and rested my forehead on her's. "I've been wanting to do that all day," I whispered.

She sighed happily. "I've been wanting you to do that all day," she replied softly. She leaned back towards me, and our lips touched again, but this time it was more passoionate. It lasted for about a minute.

She smiled again, and we heard someone clear their throat on the stairs. I looked down to see a regular sized blonde, and a tiny burnette standing on the middle step. Hanna glared at Spencer. "You couldn't have waited one more day? Now I owe Emily 20 bucks!" she exlaimed.

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